Here There Be Dragons!
by FC4
Summary: When the Doctor ends up in a world he knows nothing about, with creatures seemingly designed to kill him, he must play the hero once again. But will he have to unlock a part of himself that he has suppressed for a long time in order to accomplish it?
1. Prologue: Detour

**_Author's Note: _**_I do not own Skyrim or Doctor Who; Trademarks of Bethesda and BBC respectively. For those who do not read the Doctor Who novels, this story takes place between Amy's Choice and Hungry Earth. I plan on making the chapters long, and trying to actually finish this story. :) Enjoy and don't be afraid to review!_**  
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**Here There Be Dragons! **

**Prologue: Detour**

The central rotor column shuddered and pulsed with soft blue light as the distinctive whirring of the engines signaled their entry into the time vortex. The Doctor fiddled with various controls on the TARDIS' hexagonal control hub as it went, fixing the course, altering it, or just pressing a button because it was red. Sometimes it was hard to be sure.

"So is this typical, then?" Amy asked, cutting through the TARDIS' whirring to catch the Doctor's attention.

"Is what _typical?_" He returned with a hint of disdain towards the word, never looking up from his console.

"I mean," Amy explained, getting up from the chair to stand beside him, "do you always find these mythical, amazing creatures, only to find out they're actually some psycho-manipulative metal robot or something?" She finished with a disappointed sigh. The Doctor stopped, looking her in the eye.

"Are you not satisfied with our adventures, Pond?"

"Well, we were _supposed_ to be taking a tour of Rio de Janeiro by now," Rory interjected, and the Doctor turned towards him with an annoyed glare.

"Yes, well, old girl's never been very reliable," he admitted, moving around the console and pressing more buttons. "But we did just save an entire _planet _from destruction by way of Enamour induced avarice!" He cheered, grinning widely. "That's got to count for something, right?"

"Well, yes, but…" Rory shrugged, while Amy folded her arms, not convinced.

"And to answer your question, Amy, no, not all are psycho-manipulative metal constructs," the Doctor carried on, "some are just ordinary robots." He waved his hand as if dismissing a fly. Amy slouched at this, her hopes dashed.

"What?"

"So aliens are real, but all those fairy tale creatures are just that; fairytale," Amy sighed, sitting back down.

"Oh no, Amelia Pond!" The Doctor exclaimed, looking at her through the central column. "Far from it! All those stories, those legends and myths, were just ways for your primitive human minds to understand the beings who visited your planet," he explained rapidly, beginning to pace. Suddenly he stopped, turning to Amy and Rory and clapping his hands together. "Would you like to meet them?"

"Meet who?" Rory asked, confused.

"Yeah… meet who?" Amy echoed, standing up beside her fiancé with equal confusion on her face.

"Dragons," he answered quickly, rubbing his hands together and swaying back and forth with excitement. "Would you like to meet them?"

"Wait… Real, _live, fire-breathing_ dragons?" Rory asked. There was a tangible hint of 'this-isn't-a-good-idea' in his voice and his expression.

"Well, not all of them breathe fire," the Doctor admitted, "but most of them do."

"So there's a planet full of alien dragons somewhere in the universe?" Amy asked.

"Of course there is!" The Doctor swept his arm up and flipped a switch on the console, causing the TARDIS to shudder. He began to circle the console. "They left Earth during the medieval period because they were being hunted, and migrated to a Draconian colony on the other side of the galaxy where they were allowed to take refuge. They're actually rather peaceful; unless of course you provoke them in which case you get all the fire-breathing and snarling and not-niceness," he stated, before stopping in front of them with a silly grin on his face.

"So… what do you think? _Dragons_…" he raised his eyebrows as he spoke the word softly, "or Rio de Janeiro?"

"Dragons. Definitely," Amy answered without hesitation.

"Wait, but…"

"Do you not like dragons, Rory?" The Doctor asked, frowning and stepping back from his companion. "I always thought you liked them." Rory seemed caught off guard by this, mouth opening and closing briefly.

"Why?"

"I don't know," the Doctor answered, turning back to the console and heading towards the screen. "Maybe because you're, well…"

"Geeky?" Amy suggested.

"That's it! Geeky!" The Doctor nodded, pointing at her.

"So, because I'm 'geeky' I must like dragons?" Rory stated, seeming insulted.

"Yeah, pretty much. So, dragons, yes or no," the Doctor stated plainly, bringing them back to the point. He once again looked impatient. Amy looked at Rory with pleading eyes.

"_Fine…_" Rory sighed, and the Doctor turned into a whirlwind of grins and actions, pressing buttons and throwing switches as he got the TARDIS ready.

"And we're off!"

No sooner were the words spoken and the throttle pulled than the TARDIS began to convulse, throwing the trio about the main console room. Lights flickered throughout the room and all manner of warning noises blared.

"What's happening?" Rory cried over the hectic scene, holding onto the rail to keep himself from being thrown across the room.

"I don't know!" The Doctor cried back, clutching the console and trying desperately to regain control of his ship. When the rocking finally lulled enough for him to momentarily stand, he was able to spin the console computer screen to him to see the readings. "That doesn't make any sense… how-" The TARDIS rocked again, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Doctor, make it stop!" Amy yelled.

"I can't!" He replied, getting up and clutching the console again. When the TARDIS finally came to a standstill, nobody moved for another minute, waiting for it to start again. "I think… we've landed."

"Something tells me we're not where we were hoping to be, either," Rory added pessimistically.

"And I would say you're right, Rory," the Doctor said as he walked up to the computer screen hanging over the console, uncertainty plain on his face. "These readings don't make any sense. It's like we're in a place that doesn't exist…" the Doctor trailed off, heading for the door.

"Stay here. I'm just going to pop out and see where we've landed."

When the Doctor opened the door, the clash of steel and clamor of battle outside poured into the room. He stuck his head out briefly, and then shut the door, worried.

"We seem to have landed in a battle," he declared slowly.

"I thought you said dragons were peaceful," Amy commented from the rail.

"Unless otherwise provoked, yes; but those are humans… big… burly humans," he replied, rubbing his hands together.


	2. Chp 1: Bound to Happen

**_Author's Note:_**_ For those who are familiar with my previous Elder Scrolls work, Manic Dementia, you may be wondering if I will write this work in the same style. Generally, I will, but unlike Manic Dementia I will not be sticking as closely as possible to game dialogue, working to incorporate the main character's responses within the game's dialogue. The very presence of the Doctor throws off everything! So, you will notice many times that the game dialogue and fanfic dialogue do not match. In fact, there may be times were it is completely pointless to even include dialogue from the game. This is not an error on my part; totally intentional. _

_I also do not intend to follow the Doctor's every move in Tamriel, so as to reduce overall story and chapter length. But now and then, if I really enjoy imagining the scenario, there may be a mini-chapter featuring a side quest. Otherwise, however, those events will happen outside of the chapters. While I was originally intending to do one chapter per quest of the main storyline, the first chapter has proven this to be very lengthy and difficult to accomplish. Longer quests will be broken into parts. I will try to keep chapters shorter if readers request, but be prepared for a long (hopefully awesome) read. _

_Cheers, and don't forget to review please! _

**Chapter 1: Bound To Happen**

"Nobody is to move until I give the signal, is that clear?" The Imperial General command in a curt, hushed voice. "And once I do, you are to signal to the men on the other side of the pass, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the soldier replied, debriefing completed.

"Scout, report," the General ordered in a low tone, looking up to an outcropping of rock. A wiry man in simple leather armor was clinging to the rock like lichen.

"The caravan approaches," he hissed back, "Naught but three hundred meters, sir, approaching swiftly."

"On my mark then," the General held up his hand as the scout began to count down on his own, watching the caravan approach the ambush point. The archers were tense, ready to loosen their arrows into enemy flesh.

Too tense in fact, for the moment a strange, startling noise -like a volcanic steam vent shooting repeatedly through a broken flute- filled the air, the soldiers released their arrows in surprise, a premature volley raining down in front of the victims.

"We're under attack!"

"Gods dammit all!" The General fumed, drawing his sword. "Fire properly this time, you half-wits! FOR THE EMPIRE!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE!" The next rain of arrows followed the rallying cry, and they came from both sides of the mountain pass. The wagons of the caravan were pelted, and several of the bodyguards fell to arrows alone. What followed were twin waves of leather and chainmail clad soldiers, charging into the stunned victims.

* * *

><p>"So shouldn't we be… oh, I dunno… getting out of here?" Rory asked, following the Doctor to the console.<p>

"Normally, Rory, I would be in total agreement with you. Run, run, run, as far as we can, because I don't like fighting," the Doctor replied, looking at the screen above his console.

"There's a _but_, isn't there?" Amy prodded, sensing something was wrong.

"Buuttt… The TARDIS isn't responding," the Doctor clarified, clenching his teeth.

"Of course!" Rory sighed.

"It's just temporary, a precautionary measure when a TARDIS crash lands, or more appropriately, crash _materializes_," the Doctor rambled, correcting himself.

"How does _that _work?" Amy asked, and from the expression on her face she was already trying to imagine it. The Doctor looked at her through the central column.

"How does what work?"

"Crash _materializing;_ how do you crash _materialize!" _Amy shot back. The Doctor paused for a moment to contemplate the answer.

"Imagine an aeroplane landing on a street," the Doctor began, before turning back to his controls, "actually forget that, it's nothing like that." Amy and Rory frowned, looking all the less enlightened. "As I was saying, when it crash materializes the TARDIS shuts down the controls to perform self-diagnostics and prevent a sudden slip _back_ into the time vortex, which is _not _good."

"How, exactly, is that not good?" Rory asked.

"It just isn't," the Doctor replied curtly, turning back to the console and adjusting some dials. "But never mind that; instead, worry about what caused us to crash to begin with."

"And that would be?" Amy asked, questioning gaze fixed on the Doctor now.

"I don't know yet," the Doctor admitted softly, "but I intend to find out… AH HA!" The large circular screen on the wall across from the Doctor came to life, revealing the battle going on outside the TARDIS and filling the interior with the sound of clashing steel. "Sensors are online! Now, let's see what's happening…"

The trio moved down the steps of the console platform, approaching the screen to get a good view of the battle.

"It looks like an ambush; bandits perhaps," the Doctor thought aloud, "hard to place in a time period without a good glimpse of one, though."

"Fus… RO DAH!"

The roaring voice cracked through the speakers, filling the TARDIS like a blast of heat. The ship shook, beginning to tip sideways.

"Hold onto something!" The Doctor cried out, as Amy and Rory yelled, sliding on the now slanted TARDIS floor.

* * *

><p>The power of the shout rolled through the pass, sending soldiers flying. But the man who released the powerful magic was standing upon a wagon, and his magic had not swept the rear. This was precisely why a wiry leather-clad man had a dagger on the burly, fur-cloaked shouter's throat.<p>

"Oh, I wouldn't be doing that again, if I was you," the man hissed, sneering. As his prisoner raised his arms, the scout gave a triumphant cry. "We've got him!"

"Put your weapons down!" The General barked at the ambushed soldiers, "We have your leader prisoner. The battle is ours." Realizing that further fighting would bring them no victory, and little glory, the enemy put down their weapons, grim-faced.

"Bind these men and throw them in the carts! And gag that man immediately!" The General barked, waving off the new prisoners of war. "Scouts, find the source of that horrid noise!" The General yelled the command over the clinking of chainmail and steel as the men proceeded to bind the prisoners. "The one responsible must be held accountable!"

A few minutes later, as the less than a dozen prisoners were being loaded single file into the carts, a scout approached the General with news of the discovery of a strange blue box. While it sounded unimportant, the scout assured the General that the box was **not** there before the ambush. And it was too big to be easily moved. Agreeing to see the oddity, the General followed.

When they reached the box in question, several men were inspecting it, prodding it with swords and reading the glowing words. It looked to be taller than a man, had it not been on its side, and had doors as well, though who would want to be inside such a small box was another mystery.

"Magic…" One of the men whispered, pointing to the glow emitting from the small square windows at the top of the box. "I hate magic…"

"Do you think this made the noise we heard?" Someone else asked the General.

"I don't know. But we best get it on a cart; the battlemages will want to take a look at it."

"Yessir!" The men began to push the box, and just when it started to slide, the doors flung outward, knocking a few of the men on the head and frightening everyone. The General immediately drew his sword as a grappling hook flew out, catching on a boulder.

"Oh, wonderful! I think they're drawing swords…" A strangely accented voice came from the gaping doors. "I really wish they wouldn't draw weapons so quickly. Hello!" The Doctor greeted the soldiers as he hauled himself out of the TARDIS. He looked around, noticing the men clutching their heads. "Sorry about that." Hoping to the ground, the Doctor turned to help Amy and Rory out of the TARDIS.

"It's freezing out here!" Amy cried, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Who in Oblivion are you?" The General snapped, sword pointed at the Doctor, who slowly raised his hands up.

"I'm the Doctor… hello…" he waved gingerly at the soldiers around them, those fallen now getting to their feet and not looking very amused. "And these are my friends, Amelia and… Rorick." Rory raised an eyebrow, mouthing his new name out. "And you are?"

"General Tullius, Imperial General of the Legion," Tullius responded bluntly.

"Ooh, that sounds very official…" the Doctor muttered, looking nervous.

"It is. Now state your business in these mountains," General Tullius snapped.

"Oh, we were just passing through, seeing the sights…" the Doctor lied, looking around at the barren pines and lightly frosted ground cover. General Tullius' sword never moved.

"Recently a disturbing noise was heard coming from these woods. Have you noticed anything _strange_ on your _sight seeing_?" Something told the Doctor that the General was not buying the story, but the bit about a disturbing noise intrigued him.

"What kind of noise?" He inquired, tilting his head.

"It was indescribable, it was… a scratching, windy noise. Like nothing I ever heard before in me life," said one soldier, seeming visibly shaken. The Doctor glanced over him for a moment, thinking, before it dawned on him.

"You mean this noise?" The Doctor began to wheeze, trying to imitate the TARDIS. More swords were unsheathed as the men gasped. "No, no, that wasn't me! That was my, um, my box here, see. It's a magic box, makes special… magic noises," the Doctor trailed off, unsure where to continue.

"In that case, _Doctor_," General Tullius spat the name out, "you and your companions are under arrest for interfering with an Imperial Legion operation. Bind them and put them with the others," he told the men, who hesitantly approached the trio.

"Doctor…" Amy reached for him as she backed away from the approaching soldiers, a few of which looked at her in ways she didn't feel comfortable with. Rory grabbed her hand, backing away as well.

"Run!" The Doctor shouted, and burst towards a gap in the soldiers. Amy and Rory tried to follow, but none of them got far as sturdy pommel strikes knocked them out cold.

"And get that box on a wagon. Drag it behind if you have to," General Tullius gave a humph at the prone Doctor, sheathing his sword. "The battlemages will want a look at it, no doubt."

* * *

><p>When the trio finally came to, they found themselves crammed into a wagon with three other men. As they spoke together, it turned out that they were not the only ones who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. A horse thief had also been caught. They also learned that the ones ambushed were called Stormcloaks, and the fur clad and armored –and gagged- man sitting beside Amy was Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, their leader.<p>

"How did you do that, with your voice?" The Doctor asked the muffled man. "There are few things in the universe that can knock over a TARDIS and you did it with your _voice. _How?"

"He's not going to answer you, he's gagged!" Amy yelled.

"I said shut up back there!" The wagon driver snapped. Everyone fell quite for a few minutes as they rode through more wintry pine forest.

"Doctor… what are they going to do to us?" Amy whispered beside him, shuddering. The Doctor grabbed her bound hands.

"Amy, everything's going to be fine… trust me."

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" A soldier informed the General as the caravan reached a small, walled village. Amy began to cry and the thief rattled off divine gods, praying for help. Rory turned to him, surprised.

"Did you just…?"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing…"

They passed by two figures on horses, and the Doctor took particular note of their tall, slender figures and golden skin. They looked down at him with sneers of hatred and self-righteousness. He instantly disliked them.

"Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor," Ralof, the blonde Stormcloak soldier, spat. "And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. Bet they had something to do with this."

_Elves?_ Rory and the Doctor looked at Ralof when he said those words, then at the golden skinned figures on horseback. The Doctor muttered the word with confusion several times: "Elves, elves, how can there be elves, on earth?"

"I'm going to die, aren't I? They're going to cut off my head…" Amy sobbed.

"Amy, no one is going to die, ok. Nobody. I won't let that happen," the Doctor assured her, though he wasn't really sure how he was going to get out of this one.

"Get these prisoners out of the carts. Move it!" Barked a woman, as the prisoner carts came to a halt beside the village square. The cart carrying the TARDIS stopped nearby.

"Why are we stopping?" The horse thief asked.

"Why do you think? End of the line," Ralof replied as the cart stopped. The other cart of prisoners began to rise. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." They rose as a thick, fair-skinned man and a dark-skinned woman in steel Legion armor approached the cart.

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" The thief cried out as he got off the cart.

"Face your death with some courage, thief," Ralof chided behind him. The thief whipped around.

"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!"

"They'll kill you anyways, won't they?" Rory interrupted, shrugging. "I mean, you're a thief. No matter how you look at it, we're all doomed."

"Not helping, Rory!" The Doctor hissed as Amy continued to sniffle, trying to gain some composure.

"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time," the dark woman ordered. Ralof snorted.

"Empire loves their damn lists."

"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm," the scribe called out, and the gagged man stepped forward, heading towards the square where the execution block was placed.

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!" Ralof proclaimed as the man passed.

"Ralof of Riverwood," the scribe muttered after checking off something. Silently, Ralof followed his leader. "Lokir of Rorikstead," the man called next.

"No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" Lokir cried, sprinting towards the dark-skinned Legionaire.

"HALT!" She commanded, but the thief did not listen, deftly dodging her oncoming assault and dashing down the cobbled stone road.

"You're not gonna kill me!"

"Archers!" She yelled, whirling around. A single bow was drawn, a single arrow fired, and Lokir lay dead on the ground. Arms folding over her chest, the woman turned around, eyes blazing with fury. "Anyone else feel like running?"

"Strangely enough… no," the Doctor answered.

"Wait. You there. Step forward," the scribe beckoned, and the Doctor obeyed. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor explained. "And this is Amelia and Rorick. And the blue box is mine. We were just traveling through, had no intention of getting in anybody's way, and we're really, _really_ sorry."

The scribe looked at him for a moment, dumbfounded, before eventually scribbling something on the book he held. "Name: Unknown. Title: Doctor. Race: Breton," he muttered as he wrote.

"Oi! You change that right now. I'm a Time Lord! I am most definitely _not_ French!" The Doctor protested, but the scribe merely raised an eyebrow.

"Captain. What should we do? They aren't on the list," he asked the dark Captain, and she sneered. Her eyes bore into the Doctor as she glared at him, arms still folded.

"Forget the list. They go to the block."

"By you orders, Captain," the scribe replied, looking to the Doctor. "I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to High Rock."

"Oh, thanks," Rory sarcastically replied.

"Just follow the Captain, prisoners," the scribe responded, ignoring Rory. As the Captain walked to the square, the trio followed. The remaining Stormcloaks from the ambush were lined up, and Ulfric was standing apart from them, with General Tullius before him, hands on hips. The two men made for an interesting sight standing as such. Ulfric was a full head –or more- taller than General Tullius, with youthful dirty blonde hair and an imposing figure. General Tullius looked like the Jarl's antithesis, with short graying hair and a comparatively leaner though still muscular build.

Contributing to the dichotomy of the two men, General Tullius' armor was pristine hardened leather, with golden sweeping wave emblazons and a diamond-shaped dragon on the chest; he looked every bit the best the Roman Legion had to offer. Ulfric, by comparison, was garbed barbarically in a combination of chain and burnished steel plate, with layers of fur and cloth covering. The fur hemming of his coat, however, made for a more regal flare. But of the two, he seemed more dressed for battle; General Tullius looked like he was to attend a ceremony in the evening.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero," General Tullius motioned to the village, and the people who were leaning on rails and watching from their porches. "But a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to _murder_ his king and usurp his throne."

Ulfric could only grunt a response through his gag, barely audible.

"You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!" General Tullius exclaimed. Shortly after, an echoing roar came from the mountains to the north.

"What was that?" Asked the scribe, looking up at the sky.

"_That_ was very possibly not good," the Doctor muttered, searching the sky as well but like the others, finding nothing.

"It's nothing. Carry on," the General replied.

"Yes, General Tullius," the Captain responded, turning to a woman dressed in beige robes with a yellow hood. "Give them their last rites." The woman nodded and then raised her arms in veneration.

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you-" the priestess began, only to be cut off by a cranky, impatient Stormcloak.

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with," he snarled, walking over to the chopping block.

"As you wish," the priestess snapped back, lowering her hands as the Captain approached the Stormcloak. Rory put his hands over Amy's eyes as the man was executed. Cries of outrage rang out in the group.

"As fearless in death as he was in life," Ralof mused beside the Doctor.

"Next, the Breton doctor!" The Captain shouted. Another roar echoed through the mountains, louder this time; closer.

"There it is again. Did you hear that?" The scribe turned towards his Captain.

"That is definitely not a good sound," the Doctor proclaimed, moving forward. "I propose that we forgive and forget, forget the execution, and skip straight to finding out what that noise was, eh?" He smiled charmingly, hoping beyond hope he could convince them.

"I said, next prisoner!" The Captain grabbed the Doctor roughly, dragging him to the block.

"Ok, ok, no need to get so forceful about it. But if it turns out to be a very bad thing, you'll regret killing me. Seriously, you will," The Doctor rambled as she pressed her foot on his back, pushing him onto the chopping block. He looked at the executioner once before squeezing his eyes shut.

Tears streamed down Amy's face as she watched, leaning on Rory for support. She didn't want to see her Raggedy Doctor beheaded, but for some reason, she just couldn't tear her eyes from the sight of his head resting on that cool, blood-soaked stone. How could he seem so calm about it?

Rory, on the other hand, couldn't keep a lingering eye on the Doctor at all, trying to focus on something else as the headsman's axe raised high. This meant he had a perfect view of the source of the sound, as it flew right towards Helgen.

* * *

><p>The Doctor opened his eyes when the ground shook violently. He hadn't had many executions, but he was pretty sure earthquakes were not usually part of them. The cause of the quake, and the curses and cries of the people around him, was made pretty apparent the moment his eyes opened.<p>

Having a prime view of the tower overlooking the square, he also had an excellent view of the dragon now perched atop it. It was an ominous metallic black, with two great curving horns and a multitude of smaller horns and spikes all over the head and what body the Doctor could see. Its glowing pale red eyes stared straight at the Doctor.

"Well aren't you just gorgeous…" the Doctor murmured with a smile.

The executioner got up, preparing his axe and heading towards the tower, but the dragon responded with a roar like thunder. And the clap of thunder followed after, as the sky began to swirl into a mass of gathering storm clouds, tingeing the world orange as if the sky were on fire.

"Guards, get the townspeople to safety!" General Tullius shouted as balls of fire began to blaze through the sky, exploding all around them. Rory and Amy cowered by the carts for cover as the dragon let loose another thunderclap of a roar, and a blue wave of energy surged from its jaws.

The wave of energy sent the Doctor sprawling on the ground, along with several Stormcloaks and Imperial guardsmen. The ground shook as small meteors impacted everywhere.

"Hey, Doctor. Get up!" Ralof was crouching next to the Doctor, trying to get an arm under the fallen man. "Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!" He exclaimed over the din of the attack.

"Where are Amy and Rory?" The Doctor asked as he managed to get to his knees. "Are they safe?"

"They're alive, yes. Now hurry, this way!" Ralof answered, but it was not the answer the Doctor desired.

"Amy! Rory!" He called out, stumbling forwards.

"Doctor!" The Doctor rushed to Amy's voice and found the huddled couple. "Doctor, what do we do?"

"We run, Amy!" The Doctor shouted over meteor impacts. "We run now! Follow Ralof!" Amy nodded her head and ran across the square to the blonde Stormcloak with Rory and the Doctor following. The cart exploded a moment later.

"Quick, inside!" Ralof ordered, herding the three into a tower across the village square from the execution block. Ralof quickly shut the door as the trio rested against the stone wall. Two wounded Stormcloaks lay in pools of blood on the floor, clutching their stomachs as a comrade attended them.

"Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing?" Ralof asked, turning to the now unbound Jarl of Windhelm. "Could the legends be true?"

"Legends don't burn down villages…" Ulfric responded gravely.

"Indeed they don't," the Doctor said slowly, punctuating each word. "So the question isn't whether or not the legend is true," the Doctor looked up as the dragon roared again, shaking the tower slightly. "But rather… how will we keep ourselves from becoming his supper?" He began to pace.

"Um, Doctor?" Rory spoke up, getting off the wall he leaned on.

"What Rory? I'm thinking!"

"This feels familiar… I think I've seen this be-" He was cut off by a mighty rumble, which sent him crashing into the wall with everyone else.

"We need to move," Ulfric exclaimed before the dust could settle.

"What? What did you say?" The Doctor whirled to face Rory.

"Now!" Ulfric barked.

"Up through the tower, let's go!" Ralof shouted, already heading up the steps. Rory wasted no time in following, intimidated by the strong gaze of the Doctor.

"Rory! Rory, get back here! Get back here this instant!" The Doctor ran towards the stairs, stumbling and catching himself with his bound hands. Amy did her best to help him up with her own wrists bound. "Will somebody cut me loose already?" The tower shook again.

"Move!" Ulfric yelled again. Not one to argue when his life was at stake, the Doctor and Amy complied. Halfway up the stairs, however, there was rubble blocking further passage.

"Just need to move some of these rocks," a Stormcloak soldier stated and headed over to begin hauling. No sooner had he wrapped arms around a boulder than the wall behind him burst inward, the black dragon's head rearing back from the successful strike.

"Get down!" Ralof shouted, and Rory, Amy, and the Doctor crouched against the wall as the dragon bellowed fire into the tower.

"I hate dragons!" Amy shouted over the blast.

When the dragon had finished, he snorted, then flew off with a roar. The Doctor quickly approached the hole in the tower, watching the dragon fly.

"Yol… toor…" The Doctor murmured.

"See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going!" Ralof instructed, pointing at a ruined inn beside the tower.

"What? Are you nuts?" Amy snapped back.

"Go! We'll follow when we can!" Ralof ordered.

"We've got little choice…" the Doctor acknowledged, stepping backwards for a running leap. "Geronimo!" He cried as he leapt, rolling onto the hard wood floor of the second story of the burnt husk.

"Do you know how hard it is to jump in a miniskirt!" Amy shouted after him, before groaning and following. Her landing was far less graceful than her boys', and once she got up she hastily adjusted her skirt as best she could. "Grrr, why won't somebody free our hands?"

"Worry about that later, Pond," the Doctor called as he ran to the other side of the roof and fell through the hole in the floor. "Just keep running!"

As they ran through a doorframe, they came out to the burning village. The next building over was also a burning wreck, and an armored villager was crouched by the wreckage. An Imperial soldier ran out into the street.

"Haming, you need to get over here. Now!" The soldier ordered. A child ran towards him, and the soldier guided the boy towards the villager. "That a boy. You're doing great," he assured Haming, before turning to face the dragon as it landed in the street in front of him. The Doctor ran towards the street, just in time to see a wounded soldier only meters away from the dragon.

"Torolf!" The dragon reared his head back, and the Imperial soldier grabbed the child and shoved him into cover. "Gods… Everyone get back!"

It was well timed advice, though the Doctor didn't take it, instead watching from a distance as Torolf was instantly roasted. The Doctor struggled to get out his sonic screwdriver, waving it towards the dragon momentarily before flicking it and looking at the handle.

"But that doesn't make any sense…" he murmured as Amy and Rory came running up.

"Oh, my, god…" Rory breathed, looking at the wounded and the wreckage.

"Still alive, Doctor?" The Imperial soldier, who the Doctor recognized as the scribe, said as he approached the street again. "Keep close to me if you want to stay that way."

"Yes, because I'm willing to bet the best protection will always come from someone who wanted to _kill you_," the Doctor jabbed, shaking his screwdriver at the man. "You're lucky we don't have much choice in the matter right now," he held up his bound wrists, before awkwardly placing his screwdriver back in his now burnt tweed jacket.

"Indeed you don't," the scribe snapped back, before turning to the armored villager. "Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense."

"Gods guide you, Hadvar," the older man replied, holding the boy close to him. Hadvar ran down the street with sword drawn, and the Doctor and his companions followed. When they reached an alley between a building and a wall, Hadvar shouted for them to stay close to the wall. Somebody shouted for General Tullius, and then the dragon landed right on the wall above them.

The ground shook, sending them all to their knees, and Rory was knocked backwards by a big leathery wing. The dragon let out another bellow of flame before flying off.

"Yol toor shul… yol toor shul…" the Doctor repeated.

"What?" Amy asked, getting up.

"The dragon. He's not breathing fire, he's talking," the Doctor explained.

"Come on!" Hadvar interrupted, and lead them through the burnt shell of a house to the entry gates of the village, where they had first arrived.

"Hadvar!" General Tullius called out from among the handful of soldiers there. Two archers were firing at the dragon while two more soldiers were throwing firebolts. "Into the keep, soldier! We're leaving!"

"Yes sir!" Hadvar answered, before running off to the left. "It's you and me, Doctor. Keep close."

"Amy, Rory, come on," the Doctor called as he ran after Hadvar. There were archers everywhere trying to get a good shot at the dragon, but with little success. As they approached the keep, Ralof ran out onto the road, an iron war axe in hand, to block the way.

"Ralof, you damned traitor! Out of my way!" Hadvar snarled, sword pointed at the Stormcloak.

"We're escaping, Hadvar," Ralof snarled back, motioning towards the Doctor and his friends. "You're not stopping us this time."

"Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovengarde!" Hadvar growled, and Ralof headed off towards the large double doors of the keep, while Hadvar went to the barracks doors.

"Come on, this way!" They both said, and the Doctor, Amy, and Rory looked between the two men for a moment. Then they all chose to run into the keep with Ralof.

The interior they entered was a large circular room with a massive chandelier and a small table on the opposite side, complete with a Stormcloak corpse. Ralof ran up to his comrade, checking the body.

"Gunjar… We will meet again in Sovengarde, brother," Ralof whispered, before rising and taking a knife from his belt. "Here, let me get those bindings off," he turned towards them, and Amy eagerly held out her hands.

"Finally!" She snapped. "About bloody time. Been having to run around a burning village in a miniskirt with my hands tied up… don't you even think about it," she growled at a smirking Rory.

"Sorry…"

"Now that we're free, we can get down to business," the Doctor stated as he rubbed his wrists, walking around the room.

"Getting out of here?" Rory guessed.

"No, rather… finding out where, and what, here is," the Doctor replied, turning to Rory now and rapidly approaching until they were nose-to-nose. He eyed Rory as if trying to read a book on his face.

"Doctor, we need to get one of these doors open," Ralof cut in, trying to work an unyielding gate handle. "This keep won't keep that dragon out."

"Well that's funny; I thought that's what keeps _did_," the Doctor replied softly, turning away from Rory. "It's also unimportant. What is important is the fact that you," he pointed at Rory, "know more about what's going on right now than I do. You, Rory Williams, the nurse from Leadworth, know more than the Doctor about this world."

"Doctor shouldn't we be worrying about getting out of here first?" Amy pleaded, grabbing his arm, "worry about the where and when later."

"No, no," the Doctor snapped, shaking Amy off and beginning to circle the room, "I _need _to know, now. Because this world is wrong; all of it wrong. You've got the Roman Legion mixed with medieval technology. There's an African woman as Captain of the Legion, which shows tremendous gender and racial equality, more than there should be in either the Holy Roman Empire or medieval ages," the Doctor rattled off quickly. "There's a dragon out there, right now, and elves, and actual magic… And time, time itself is different! I can feel it moving differently, the planet is rotating at a slightly different speed," the Doctor brought his watch up to check the time, "and time is moving faster. And it is just, all, wrong!" The Doctor suddenly ran back to Rory, getting in his face again. "This world is wrong, Rory, wrong, and it is important I find out _why_," the Doctor paused to breathe slowly.

"You said this felt familiar to you, like you've seen it before," the Doctor reiterated Rory's words, eyes scanning the nurse's face. "Why?"

"Because I've seen it… in a video game…" Rory explained slowly, slightly frightened.

"What?" The Doctor said softly, unable or unwilling to believe what he just heard.

"A video game, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It sounded cool, so I bought it…"

"What?" The Doctor asked again, obviously still having trouble coming to terms with this knowledge.

"And installed it on a computer in the TARDIS," Rory finally admitted, harboring a feeling that very statement would both seal his doom and provide an explanation for their situation. Somehow.

"**What?"**


End file.
